Newegg lists 516 SATA cables. Some of the standards are SATA 1 (150Gbs), ans some are SATA 2 (300 Gbs). So I suppose there is a dfifference.

In practice it probably wouldn't matter which cable you chose, since even with a pair of WD Raptors in RAID 0, you would never even approach the SATA 1 spec in terms of data transfer rate.

At present the SATA 2 spec is an urban myth. However this could change should solid state drives become more available.
But, since the prices are close, if not identical, it wouldn't pay to buy SATA 1 cables, because the SATA 2 jobbies would automatically be backwards compatible.
A new motherboard with SATA 2 interface would likewise be supplied with cables that would meet the SATA 2 spec.

A good, fast modern HDD, will only transfer somewhere in the neighborhood of 70Gbs, at maximum. This is far below the actual electronic speed of even the SATA 1 Buss. Actually ATA-133 is electronically faster than a HDD, for that matter, so is ATA-100.

See, there's advertising BS at work here. ATA interfaces were measured in "Megabytes" per second" and now SATA HDDs are measured in "Giga >BITS< per second. So, 100 Megabytes per second and 100 Gigabits per second are actually the same amout of data transfer being accomplished.

Still, go for SATA 2 cables anyway, as they are probably manufactured to a higher quality, to support the data transfer rate claim.

Newegg lists 516 SATA cables. Some of the standards are SATA 1 (150Gbs), ans some are SATA 2 (300 Gbs). So I suppose there is a dfifference.

In practice it probably wouldn't matter which cable you chose, since even with a pair of WD Raptors in RAID 0, you would never even approach the SATA 1 spec in terms of data transfer rate.

At present the SATA 2 spec is an urban myth. However this could change should solid state drives become more available.
But, since the prices are close, if not identical, it wouldn't pay to buy SATA 1 cables, because the SATA 2 jobbies would automatically be backwards compatible.
A new motherboard with SATA 2 interface would likewise be supplied with cables that would meet the SATA 2 spec.

Click to expand...

Not entirely true, I have seen the newer raptors (2.5" size in a 3.5" heatsink) approach 75% of the claimed value with ease.

SATA I is only fully compatable with devices of such, and SATA II works both ways. Its like modern routers, the ports know whats plugged in and its auto-configured. You can use a SATA I cable with SATA II devices in SATA II ports, but their capability will be limited as they were not designed to go from 1.5gb/s to 3. Then again, no single HDD you own will attain either speed so that isn't a real issue.

SATA II is a marketing term, but it implies the cable is Second Generation SATA, which runs at 3Gbs. The previous generation ran at 1.5Gbs.
Make sure you get SECOND generation or your system may not work.

Also, make sure the SATA cables are "high-quality" and "high-speed" classified.